NKF’s losing battle in court

I’ve been following the NKF v. SPH legal battle these past few days and it’s really been entertaining. Man, the way the court dialogue pans out is like something coming out of The Practice!

Just take a look at the dialogue. But before that, here’s what you should know:

Background:

1. Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) published an article in 2004 about the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and its CEO, T.T. Durai. In short, the article implied how Durai and the charity NKF had misused public funds to install gold-plated taps and expensive toilet bowls in Durai’s private office suite (one of many misuses of funds as discovered later).

2. NKF and Durai take SPH to court on a defamation suit.

3. The fun begins.

Some misuses of funds:

1. Durai’s salary: $25,000 per month + 10-12 months bonus per year = approx $600,000 per year

2. Durai’s Mercedes-Benz: road taxes paid and maintained by NKF

3. Durai’s business trips: first class tickets

4. And of course… Durai’s toilet

The cast:

1. Plaintiffs are the NKF and CEO T.T. Durai, represented by Senior Counsel Michael Khoo.

2. Defendants are The Straits Times (SPH) and Ms Susan Long represented by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh.


Ding ding ding...FIGHT!

Finally, here you are! Three entertaining court exchanges:

1. Durai-Singh exchange about Durai’s Mercedes-Benz…

Davinder Singh: So the donations which are being given by the public also go to repairing a Mercedes-Benz that is used by your wife?

T.T. Durai: By the family and also for the NKF.

Davinder Singh: And the donations which are given by the public are also used to pay for the maintenance and road tax for a Mercedes-Benz for your wife?

T.T. Durai: No, it is also for the use of the NKF at times.

Counsel suggested that in fact, the car was not for the NKF's use. But Mr Durai stuck by what he had said earlier.

Davinder Singh: What really happens is, your wife and family have the benefit of one car, and you, whenever it pleases you, have the benefit of another with a driver. All from donations, correct?

T.T. Durai: These are my entitlements and I use them.

Piggy: Ouch! He’s a CEO and he’s talking about entitlements??? Gimme a break!

2. Durai-Singh exchange about Durai’s first class travel…

Davinder Singh: Can we have a straight answer to this question and listen very carefully to it: Using NKF's funds, have you traveled first class? A straight answer, you are on oath.

T. T. Durai: Yes, NKF has not paid for...

Davinder Singh: No, no. My question is very simple. Using NKF's fund have you ever traveled first class?

T. T. Durai: No.

Davinder Singh: Is that the honest truth?

T. T. Durai: I have traveled on NKF's business-class entitlement. I have used it to travel first class.

Davinder Singh: I ask you one more time. Forget entitlement. Money. NKF money used. You travel first class?

T. T. Durai: Yes.

Davinder Singh: You have?

T. T. Durai: Yes, on business-class entitlement.

To further questions, Mr Durai said he knew that an SIA business-class fare was higher than first-class fare on other airlines.

Davinder Singh: So effectively, what you have done is you have used money from the NKF ostensibly for business-class travel but really for first-class travel.

T. T. Durai: I have used...

Justice Tan Lee Meng: Yes or no?

T. T. Durai: Yes. Can I explain why?

Judge: You can but I would appreciate if you answer the questions.

Davinder Singh: You see, Mr Durai, this is public money. Isn't it your duty as a trustee of people's money to make sure that you get best value on a business-class seat instead of deploying this clever tactic of using one of the highest published rates to get first class on another plane?

T. T. Durai: This is a decision made by the board. I used the entitlement.

Judge: The question is not who made the decision.

T. T. Durai: The board gave me...

Judge: Please answer the question.

Davinder Singh: Isn't it true that as a trustee of people's money, you have a duty to ensure that you get value for that money?

T. T. Durai: True.

Davinder Singh: Isn't it true that you need to fly in business class for business-class comfort?

T. T. Durai: This is an entitlement given by the board to me...

Judge: That was not his question. His question was, the directors feel that you deserve business-class comfort.

T. T. Durai: Yes.

Davinder Singh: And because you deserve business-class comfort, you are given a perk of business-class travel.

T. T. Durai: Yes.

Davinder Singh: Using the money donated by the man in the two-room HDB flat.

T. T. Durai: Yes.

Davinder Singh: Who has never in his life seen a business-class cabin?

T. T. Durai: I would not know that.

Davinder Singh: So you set your perk at SIA business-class rate, use that money to go first class and sue people who say that they have seen you in first class?

T. T. Durai: At that point (of the 1998 lawsuits) I didn't travel on first class. But in the past two years, the board has given me entitlement to travel business class on an SIA ticket. So I have taken the liberty to travel first class... That is what the board has decided. They know about this.

Piggy: I think Durai and the board are going down hand-in-hand...

Davinder Singh: NKF does not pay for first-class airfare from Singapore. Does this say that if Mr Durai flies from Singapore, we only pay business class? But if Mr Durai flies from other countries back to Singapore, it is first class?

Therefore, is this statement by Mr Yong to the reporter Susan Long, meant for the public and donors, true or false?

T. T. Durai: It is not accurate, yes. Your interpretation is not accurate.

Davinder Singh: How will the public read this? You have sued two people who alleged you traveled first class.

T. T. Durai: They will have a different view of it.

Davinder Singh: They will read it to mean that none of NKF's executives including you fly first class using NKF's money, correct?

T. T. Durai: Yes.

Davinder Singh: And that is false, correct?

T. T. Durai: Yes.

Davinder Singh: Is this transparency or is this deliberate concealment of facts? We had come to this court to justify the lack of transparency. What we have now learnt is far more egregious than that. Is this a matter of transparency or an orchestrated attempt to lie to the public?

T. T. Durai: No. The board has made a decision on the entitlement - I have used my entitlement to travel the way I want for the purpose of business. It is not something I have done deliberately to deceive the public.

Davinder Singh: Are you now going to do the right thing to go to the two persons you took money from (in the 1998 lawsuits) to return it to them and to apologize?

T. T. Durai: No. I want to explain because at that time I was not traveling using NKF's money to buy a first-class ticket. I paid the difference and then traveled on first class...

Mr Davinder Singh asked several times why Mr Yong felt it necessary to mislead the public with a statement that was not true, and why Mr Durai had done nothing to correct it.

Davinder Singh: Mr Durai, one last chance before I move on because if you don't have an answer, we know what it is. Why was it necessary to mislead the public?

T. T. Durai: You ask Mr Richard Yong [board chairman] that question. I don't know.

Mr Durai disagreed that his method of using his business-class entitlement to travel first class amounted to mismanagement of NKF donations.

Davinder Singh: The reason the public has been misled is that you know that if the public knew the truth, they would be upset that these methods were being used to get yourself on first class. Isn't that right?

T. T. Durai: No.

Davinder Singh: The public would be upset.

T. T. Durai: No.

Davinder Singh: That is why you are not telling them the truth. Why hide the truth?

T. T. Durai: I am just like every other CEO entitled to benefits and rights. We run a business organization with a turnover of $120 million.

Judge: Why hide the truth? The question was, why hide the truth?

Davinder Singh: Why hide the truth? You see, if it is completely acceptable, completely above board, why not tell the public this is what you are doing? Why create a totally false impression, as we have seen in this article?

T. T. Durai: On hindsight, we should have done that - to say I travel on first class using a business-class airfare.

Piggy: The judge didn’t seem too sympathetic eh?? Must've contributed some money to NKF himself :P

3. Durai-Singh exchange about Durai’s salary…

Davinder Singh: So, for the past three years, you have earned about, what $1.8m?

T. T. Durai: Yes.

Davinder Singh: From the NKF?

T. T. Durai: Yes.

Davinder Singh: Should the man who earns $1,000 a month and takes out $50 from his pay packet thinking that he's going to save lives not know that that is the kind of money you earn?

T. T. Durai: There is nothing wrong with the money I earn.

Davinder Singh: I am not talking about anything wrong. Please do not get defensive.... $1.8 million. I wonder what is wrong....

Should the man who takes $50 out of his $1,000 pay packet... thinking that he is going to save a fellow Singaporean, in the bed... should he not know that some of that money is going, or has gone into the $500,000, $600,000 pay package for you?

T. T. Durai: Surely he knows.

Davinder Singh: Tell me how does he know. Please show us the document to back up the statement you have made on oath.

At this point, Mr Durai tried to explain that people donate money to the NKF's dialysis program to save lives but the judge cut him short…(nasty judge at work again!)

Piggy's comments:

Good fun??? Lessons learnt - Don’t mess with the press. Don’t mess with Davinder.

On a serious note however, I don't want to see the kidney patients or the NKF organization as a whole suffer from this debacle. The Board and Durai are the ones to blame and they should be removed. The public has to keep the faith that the charity is here to help and not use this saga as an excuse to cut back on their donations.

But by the look of this photo, it may be too late...


Vandalism at the NFK headquarters